SUSTAINABILITY. Response to Comment on "Planetary boundaries: Guiding human development on a changing planet".
Dieter Gerten, Johan Rockström, Jens Heinke, Will Steffen, Katherine Richardson, Sarah Cornell
Author Information
Dieter Gerten: Research Domain of Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany. gerten@pik-potsdam.de.
Johan Rockström: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Jens Heinke: Research Domain of Earth System Analysis, Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, 14473 Potsdam, Germany. International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, 00100 Kenya. Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, St. Lucia, QLD 4067, Australia.
Will Steffen: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden. Fenner School of Environment and Society, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Katherine Richardson: Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, University of Copenhagen, Natural History Museum of Denmark, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.
Sarah Cornell: Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
Jaramillo and Destouni claim that freshwater consumption is beyond the planetary boundary, based on high estimates of water cycle components, different definitions of water consumption, and extrapolation from a single case study. The difference from our analysis, based on mainstream assessments of global water consumption, highlights the need for clearer definitions of water cycle components and improved models and databases.
